Obama Just Guaranteed ObamaCare's Failure

"The minimum coverage provision is necessary to carry those provisions into — into execution; because without them, without those provisions,... View Enlarged Image

Death Blow: Almost two years ago, President Obama's solicitor general told the Supreme Court that without the individual mandate, ObamaCare would fail. But after winning that victory, the administration itself has effectively killed the mandate.

In his oral arguments before the court, Donald Verrilli made it abundantly clear that, without the individual mandate, ObamaCare would "make matters worse, not better."

As he told the justices, the "guaranteed issue" and "community rating" regulations at the heart of ObamaCare won't work if you let the young and healthy choose not to buy insurance.

States that tried it, he explained, found these regulations to be "highly counterproductive," noting that insurance rates in New Jersey doubled, causing its market to collapse. He also noted that after Kentucky tried these reforms, "virtually every insurer left the market."

It turns out that if healthy people can wait until after they get sick to buy insurance, and get it guaranteed at a subsidized rate, most will do so, resulting in an insurance premium "death spiral."

ObamaCare was supposed to avoid this mainly through the mandate and the tax penalty on those who went uninsured. But after the cancellation fiasco last year, Obama added a one-year expansion to the mandate's "hardship exemption," to include anyone who'd had policies canceled.

Then, just last week, Obama quietly extended this massive loophole for two more years, as the Wall Street Journal discovered. So for the next three years, people can claim an exemption if they've had their previous plan canceled and "consider the other plans available unaffordable." They just need a copy of the cancellation notice.

But insurance refuseniks can also get an exemption if they claim "another hardship in obtaining health insurance." For that, they only need documentation "if possible."

The exemption standards were ridiculously loose to begin with. Someone claiming to have "experienced domestic violence" is automatically exempt, without submitting any documentation whatsoever.

Another easy out: Just fail to pay a utility bill until a shut-off notice arrives. Send that in and — poof! — hardship exemption.

Democrats also neutered the IRS's ability to collect the penalty — to avoid political blowback — giving the uninsured little incentive to pay.

The latest extension puts the final nail in the mandate coffin, since now only a fool would pay the penalty. And so, as Verrilli warned, ObamaCare will "make matters worse, not better."

See Also

Media: Jon Stewart isn't a fearless, funny comedian who bravely skewers politicians of all stripes with his wicked humor, sarcasm and invective. But he plays one on TV. In reality, he's just another left-wing media toady.As Stewart prepares for his final "Daily Show" taping on Aug. 6, maybe we ...

Entitlements: Medicare's latest annual report, issued days before its 50th anniversary, seems to show that, thanks to ObamaCare, it has a long and healthy future in front of it. But it's not true. Not by a long shot.President Obama's top economists, Jeff Zients and Jason Furman, claim that the new ...

Health Reform: Before ObamaCare, it would've been hard to find a health plan that combined a huge $6,000 deductible, few in-network doctors, and sky-high premiums. Today, thanks to ObamaCare, it's hard not to.A new report from Avalere Health finds that enrollees in ObamaCare plans have access to ...

Integrity: An undercover operation shows how ridiculously easy it is to defraud ObamaCare. Even after officials learned investigators had set up several bogus accounts in June of last year, they failed to catch any of them.The Government Accountability Office report reads like something out of the ...

Crony Capitalism: Across the country, health insurers are asking for huge ObamaCare premium increases, blaming new costs imposed by the law. So why is a top industry CEO praising ObamaCare as being great for consumers?Humana CEO Bruce Broussard was on CNBC this week, along with Aetna CEO Mark ...

About Investor's Business Daily

Investor’s Business Daily provides exclusive stock lists, investing data, stock market research, education and the latest financial and business news to help investors make more money in the stock market. All of IBD’s products and features are based on the CAN SLIM® Investing System developed by IBD’s Founder William J. O’Neil, who identified the seven common characteristics that winning stocks display before making huge price gains. Each letter of CAN SLIM represents one of those traits.

Select market data is provided by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services. Price and Volume data is delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise noted, is believed accurate but is not warranted or guaranteed by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services and is subject to Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services terms. All times are Eastern United States. *Reflects real-time index prices.